Earth Sciences Commons^™

No Tillage Use For Crop Production In Kentucky Counties In 1996, Gerald R. Haszler, Grant W. Thomas

Soil Science News and Views

Two years ago, we reported the status of notillage adoption in Kentucky counties in the year 1994. Now, CTIC has published the results for 1996. As before, Kentucky leads the nation in percent of crops produced under no tillage, but the percentage has increased significantly. In 1994, 44% of crops were produced under no tillage in Kentucky, whereas in 1996, that figure had reached 51 %. The results for both 1994 and 1996 are shown in Table 1. It is evident that Kentucky has both maintained first place and has also increased its lead over the other states. The percentage …

Pelletized Lime - How Quickly Does It React, Lloyd W. Murdock

Soil Science News and Views

Pelletized lime is made by granulating finely ground agricultural (ag) lime. It may be dolomitic or calcitic depending on the nature of the original limestone. The fine lime particles are bonded together with lignosulfonates during the pelletizing process. In general, the pelletized lime contains about 9% lignosulfonates. Pelletized limestone is a product that has been on the market for many years. The price of the material on a per ton basis is considerably higher than bulk ag lime, so its use has mainly been confined to specialty markets, with little use in production agriculture. However, the product is becoming more …

How Do Bacteria Move Through Soil?, Mark S. Coyne, J. M. Howell, R. E. Phillips

Soil Science News and Views

The contamination of water supplies by fecal bacteria is an important water quality issue in Kentucky. Contamination may come from point sources, such as straight pipes depositing raw sewage into streams, or nonpoint sources, such as manure runoff from cropland. A direct cost of contaminating water supplies is the expense that homesteads or water companies incur to chlorinate, filter, and otherwise treat water to make it potable. Indirect costs are the time lost to illness from drinking inadequately treated water, slower weight gain in livestock drinking contaminated water, and the degradation of aquatic habitats.

Detection Of Nitrate-N And Triazine Herbicides In Groundwater And Surface Water Of An Agricultural Watershed In Western Kentucky, John Potts, Larry Reber

Soil Science News and Views

The quality of water in Kentucky's agricultural watersheds has received considerable attention in recent years. The main concerns in com production areas usually center on content of nitrogen (N) from commercial fertilizer and triazines from herbicide applications in water. Although N can be found naturally in Kentucky soils, it can't supply all the N that com needs to produce optimum yields. Therefore, fertilizer N is added to ensure ample nutrition. Triazine herbicides, on the other hand, do not occur naturally in the soil but are applied to the soil to effectively control weeds. Most commonly, these herbicides are applied at …

Profitability Of Variable Rate Fertilization On A Kentucky Soil (A Theoretical Analysis), Lloyd W. Murdock, Paula L. Howe

Soil Science News and Views

Grid soil sampling and variable rate fertilizer applications are a part of the precision agriculture movement that has captured the interest of many farmers. Variable rate fertilization requires extra expense and effort plus the use of often unfamiliar technology. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) equipment and computer software are used to outline and grid the field into small manageable units or “cells” (usually 2.5 acres). Each grid cell is soil sampled and tested for pH and available nutrients. Fertilizer recommendations are made on each grid cell and the fertilizer is spread by each grid cell using a truck equipped with GPS …

How Accurate Are Uk's Nitrogen Recommendations For Corn?, Kenneth L. Wells, James E. Dollarhide, David C. Ditsch

Soil Science News and Views

Average corn yields produced on soils with high yield potential have steadily been increasing in Kentucky during the past several years. Yields from such soils in years with adequate amounts of rainfall well distributed over the growing season (May-September) may average 180 to 200 bushels per acre. A bushel of corn with crude protein content of 8 to 9% contains about 1.3 to 1.4% total nitrogen (N) on a dry matter basis. This is about 0.6 to 0.7 lbs total N per bushel of corn (at 15.5% moisture), or 108 to 126 lbs N per acre for a 180 bu/A …

Economics Of Precision Farming: Payoff In The Future, Jess Lowenberg-Beboer

Soil Science News and Views

Precision agriculture is an infant technology. This infant has some of the signs of eventual greatness, but its full capacities will not be evident for some years. Like all infants, it will require an investment of time and resources to help it to maturity. This investment will have some short term payoff, but the main benefits will be in the future.

The purpose of this presentation is to help you manage your adoption of precision farming technology for that future payoff. The specific objectives will be to:review what we have learned about the economics of precision farming, identify future benefits, …

Tillage Slows Fecal Bacteria Infiltration Through Soil, Mark S. Coyne, S. W. Mcmurry, E. Perfect

Soil Science News and Views

Bacterial pathogens can degrade ground water quality by infiltrating and eroding from land treated with poultry wastes. The potential for ground water contamination (as well as associated health risks and cost of water treatment) greatly depends on the depth of soil to the water table or bedrock and soil structure. Pathogens must move through the soil profile to contaminate ground water (although sinkholes can provide a direct channel from the soil surface to the water table in karst areas). Deep soils have less potential for contamination than shallow soils. Structureless soils retain fecal bacteria better than well structured soils. Research …

Filter Strip Length And Fecal Bacteria Trapping From Poultry Waste - An Update, Mark S. Coyne, R. A. Gilfillen, Robert L. Blevins

Soil Science News and Views

Cheap, efficient, and environmentally sound waste disposal will be needed as Kentucky's broiler industry expands. The filter strip length needed to protect water resources from contaminants in surface runoff is a pressing issue in waste management and water quality. In a previous Soil Science News and Views (Vol. 15, No. 8) we reported that grass filter strips as short as 15 feet can trap over 90% of the fecal bacteria eroding from land-applied and incorporated poultry waste during runoff following rainstorms. In this update, we provide some additional information and conclusions from that study on filter strip length, based on …

Soil Management For Intensive Grazing, Kenneth L. Wells, Charles T. Dougherty

Soil Science News and Views

Recycling of plant nutrients is of major concern in managing paddocks in pasturefields for intensive grazing. Redistribution of nutrients present in fecal and urine deposits is an important issue in growing climatically and seasonally-adapted forage species and for efficient conversion of herbage into animal products while adding to the sustainability of the system. Some of the questions that arise in managing soils for intensive grazing are discussed below.